Of the Finnish universities, five were ranked among the top 500. The most successful was the University of Helsinki which was 56th in the ranking. The University of Helsinki improved its ranking by 11 positions. The University of Eastern Finland was ranked among the 301–400 best Universities, and Aalto University and the University of Oulu were placed in the 401–500 category.

Harvard University in the United States kept its position at the top of the list. Eight of the best ten universities in the world are in the United States, including Stanford University (2nd) and the University of California, Berkeley (3rd). In addition, the University of Cambridge (4th) and the University of Oxford (7th) from Great Britain were among the top ten universities. The best Nordic university was the University of Copenhagen (30th).

The ranking is compiled by the Jiao Tong University, which was placed in the 101–150 category in this year's ranking. The so-called Shanghai ranking has been published since 2003. There are over 10,000 universities in the world.